Precision Dynamics sold to Wisconsin firm

Precision Dynamics staff working on customer calls in August 2012 at the company's Valencia headquarters in Santa Clarita. Brady Corp. purhcased the company for $300 million in cash.

Precision Dynamics Corp. of Valencia was acquired by Milwaukee, Wis.-based Brady Corp. for $300 million in cash, the Brady Corp. announced Friday.

With annual sales of approximately $173 million, Precision is a leader in identification products used in the healthcare market.

The company’s healthcare wristband and label systems are used by most U.S. hospitals and reach touch points in the delivery of patient care, from admissions to discharge.

Purchasing Precision allows Brady to gain a foothold in the healthcare market, said Frank M. Jaehnert, president and CEO of Brady Corp.

Just this past summer, Precision relocated its headquarters to Valencia, becoming fully operational here by July 13.

The move came after Precision Dynamics and St. John Companies Inc. merged in 2011. St. John already had a presence in Santa Clarita but Precision had its offices in San Fernando, said Cecil Kost, president and CEO of Precision.

Neither company had a facility that was the right fit for the two companies when they merged operations, Kost said this past summer.

Precision also signed a seven-year lease for 44,000 square feet of space at the LNR Entrada Gateway Center. The lease was valued at $10 million, he said.

The company said it employed some 1,000 people globally, this past summer – of which 265 employees work at the Valencia office.

It also has manufacturing facilities in Tijuana, Mexico and Port Orange, Fla., and a European sales office with light manufacturing in Nivelles, Belgium.

Brady expects the deal to have one-time acquisition costs of $8 million to $12 million.

Late Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Precision said he couldn’t comment until he had time to review the information as employees had just received it.